"My doctor told me that they are used to seeing tumors like mine, but that patients usually have only one," recalls Brenda. "I had several. They said there are only 100 people in the world that have this problem."

Despite the rarity of Brenda's condition, the brain surgeons at Mayo tackled the case with a lot of optimism. "They said it was an unusual case, but they assured me that 'we can do this,'" says Brenda. "Through it all, I never once lacked confidence in them. If anyone can handle this, it is those doctors at Mayo. It is an incredible place."

More of Mayo
Brenda and her husband, Duane, have become very familiar with the massive complex that is Mayo Clinic. Her initial surgery was a delicate one. "One of the tumors was actually wrapped around my optic nerve," she says. "And they took out three or four tumors that were eating away the bone behind my eye."

To stabilize the eye, surgeons had to replace with tissue the bone that was lost. That tissue came from Brenda's thigh, and she has the scar to prove it. "The incision was 10 inches long," explains Brenda. "But that isn’t what is bothering me."

Brenda laughs as she grabs a mass on the side of her right thigh. "I call it the blob," she giggles. "Doctors are thinking it shouldn’t be this swollen, and are going to have to do another surgery to get it to heal."

But that's not the only surgery in Brenda's near-future. Doctors are seeing fragments of tumors here and there in Brenda's brain. Looming behind Brenda's left eye are at least three more tumors, and near the top of her skull are three more.

"One of them is wrapped around an artery that goes to my brain," says Brenda. "They are telling me that they can't get at that one with surgery. So they are going to perform gamma knife radiation at the same time they do surgery on my leg."

Caring gives her courage
Throughout her rare and debilitating illness, Brenda has kept her cool. Only eight weeks after brain surgery, she was back at work at the North Dakota Farmers Union office in Jamestown. Despite having screws in her skull, an unhealed thigh, hearing problems and loss of sight in her right eye, she remains upbeat and is able to talk about her illness without a trace of self-pity.

Brenda attributes her selflessness to the family and community support she's been given. Her husband and sons Jason and Tyler have stepped up to the plate and are offering help and support. A caring group of people that call themselves the "Courtenay Community Barbecue Committee" submitted an application form that led to a June award of $1,000 from Operation Round Up. That same Courtenay group, along with Atonement Lutheran Church, went on to hold a fundraiser in June. She says her family, including her mother, siblings and in-laws, along with co-workers at North Dakota Farmers Union's Jamestown office, have also been very kind.

"Everyone has been so wonderful throughout this ordeal," she says. "That has helped so much."